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| The amount of the sun's energy that reaches the Earth. |
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The atmospheric layer of gases that is closest to the Earth's surface.
Weather is the condition of the troposphere. |
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The condition of the troposphere is like at any given place and time.
Weather can be hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, and sunny or cloudy. |
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The force put on a given area by the weight of air above it.
You can think of this as the weight of a column of air pressing on a patch of the Earth's surface. |
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The amount of water vapor in the air.
Air is a mixture of gases. Water vapor weighs less than most other gases in the air. |
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A wind that blows steadily in a predictable direction over long distances.
Global winds blow because sunlight heats areas near Earth's equator more than it heats areas near the Earth's poles. |
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| A device for measuring air pressure. |
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| A large region of the atmosphere in which air has similar properties |
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| The boundary between two air masses. |
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| A map that shows the weather in a specific point in time. |
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| A rainstorm with both lightning and thunder. |
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| A snowstorm with 35 mph winds and enough snowfall that you can only see up to a quarter of a mile. |
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| A rotating funnel shaped cloud with wind speeds up to 300 mph. |
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| A very large swirling storm with very low pressure at the center and speeds greater than 75 mph. |
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| A bulge of water in the ocean caused by hurricane waves and winds. As a storm moves over a coast, the storm surge can cause water levels to suddenly rise, or surge, several meters. |
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| Any storm with low pressure center that causes a circular pattern of winds to form. Tropical storms,hurricanes, and tornadoes have low-pressure centers and spinning winds. They are all cyclones. |
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The average weather pattern of a region.
Climate can be determined for different areas, different periods of time, and different locations.
Because of insolation's effect on temperature, latitude has the strongest effect on climate.
Another way to categorize an area's climate is to describe the plants that grow there. |
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An ocean movement; a large stream of water that flows in the ocean.
There are many different currents in the ocean that are constantly moving. |
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The dry area on the leeward side of a mountain.
Mountain ranges affect precipitation patterns. As warm, moist air moves up a mountain, it gets colder. |
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| A change in weather conditions caused by the sinking of the cold current in the Pacific Ocean; characterized by higher tides, heavy rains, and storms along the coast of North and South America. |
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| When different kinds of air move and mix with each other, what can occur? |
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| warm air rising and cold air sinking |
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| water evaporates from the Earth into the air, then condenses into water droplets |
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| In which situation would a storm be most likely to happen? |
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| when very cold air moves into an area with warm air |
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| What is the main reason that scientists have so many tools to measure and predict weather? |
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| Good predictions give people time to make plans and protect themselves from bad weather. |
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Thin, wispy; made of ice crystals
usually mean fair weather; usually indicate that the weather will change within 24 hours |
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solid gray; usually cover whole sky
often create light mist or drizzle |
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white, puffy; look like cotton
indicate fair weather but can grow upward like towers and change into storm clouds |
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top of towering cumulus cloud that get flattened by high wind
thunderstorm clouds; that can produce heavy rain, hail, snow, lightning, and sometimes tornadoes |
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| a device with rotating cups that measures wind speed |
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| The layer of the atmosphere that is farthest away from Earth's surface |
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| is caused by a rapid expansion of air |
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| A cloud close to the ground |
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| The layer of gases closest to Earth, where all weather takes place |
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| describes the change in direction of something on or above Earth's surface because of Earth's because of Earth's rotation. This effect causes the winds to curve. |
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| any storm with a low pressure center that causes a circular wind pattern |
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Lightning is the spark from the discharge of electricity that has built up in a thunderhead (which is a tall cloud)
Static electricity builds up as gravity pulls water particles down, and wind pushes water particles up, then static electricity is released as lightning.
Lightning raises the temperature of the air around it to more than five times the temperature of the sun, this burst of heat makes the air expand violently. Thunder is the sound of the rapidly expanding air. |
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